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Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Originally Posted by Jack Hays

And each application of the term outside the U.S. may be handy shorthand for this or that specific policy discussion, but it is fundamentally an error. The term has no real meaning outside the context of U.S. political thought and politics.

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

The French army won the war in Algeria. DeGaulle's decision to withdraw was political. In any case, to return to your original point, Gaullism did not make retention of the colonies central.

A silly tangent backed with nothing, I already showed they fought very hard to hold the colonies.

The main theme of de Gaulle's foreign policy was national independence, and maintaining as much control as possible of as many of France's colonies as possible (cf. de Gaulle's policy on Indochina) with, as some practical consequences, some degree of opposition to international organizations such as NATO or the European Economic Community. The basic tenets were that France should not have to rely on any foreign country for its survival (thus the creation of the French nuclear deterrent) and that France should refuse subservience to any foreign power, be it the United States or the Soviet Union. One can also cite what foreign observers dubbed the policies of grandeur, that is, the insistence that France be a major power in the world scene and that military and economic forces be established to back this claim. In that respect, Gaullism significantly influenced the foreign policy of France in the subsequent decades, even after Gaullists were nominally no longer in power.

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Now you're getting somewhere but you don't know it. Those who invoke alleged neocon links do so because they perceive a policy outcome similarity, not because they grasp the ideological foundation. And more often than not they misunderstand the policy too.

"It's always reassuring to find you've made the right enemies." -- William J. Donovan

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Originally Posted by Gimmesometruth

A silly tangent backed with nothing, I already showed they fought very hard to hold the colonies.

The main theme of de Gaulle's foreign policy was national independence, and maintaining as much control as possible of as many of France's colonies as possible (cf. de Gaulle's policy on Indochina) with, as some practical consequences, some degree of opposition to international organizations such as NATO or the European Economic Community. The basic tenets were that France should not have to rely on any foreign country for its survival (thus the creation of the French nuclear deterrent) and that France should refuse subservience to any foreign power, be it the United States or the Soviet Union. One can also cite what foreign observers dubbed the policies of grandeur, that is, the insistence that France be a major power in the world scene and that military and economic forces be established to back this claim. In that respect, Gaullism significantly influenced the foreign policy of France in the subsequent decades, even after Gaullists were nominally no longer in power.

Whatever may have been the rhetoric, DeGaulle oversaw the almost complete dismantlement of the French Empire.

The French colonial empire began to fall during the Second World War, when various parts were occupied by foreign powers (Japan in Indochina, Britain in Syria, Lebanon, and Madagascar, the United States and Britain in Morocco and Algeria, and Germany and Italy in Tunisia). However, control was gradually reestablished by Charles de Gaulle. The French Union, included in the 1946 Constitution of 1946, replaced the former colonial Empire.

France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of the decolonisation movement. Paul Ramadier's (SFIO) cabinet repressed the Malagasy Uprising in 1947. In Asia, Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh declared Vietnam's independence, starting the First Indochina War. In Cameroun, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon's insurrection, started in 1955 and headed by Ruben Um Nyobé, was violently repressed.

When the Indochina War ended with defeat and withdrawal in 1954, France became almost immediately involved in a new, and even harsher conflict in Algeria, the oldest major colony. Ferhat Abbas and Messali Hadj's movements had marked the period between the two wars, but both sides radicalised after the Second World War. In 1945, the Sétif massacre was carried out by the French army.

The Algerian War started in 1954. Algeria was particularly problematic, due to the large number of European settlers (or pieds-noirs) who had settled there in the 125 years of French rule. Charles de Gaulle's accession to power in 1958 in the middle of the crisis ultimately led to the independence of Algeria with the 1962 Evian Accords. The Suez crisis in 1956 also displayed the limitations of French power, as its attempt to retake the canal along with the British was stymied when the United States did not back the plan.

The French Union was replaced in the new 1958 Constitution of 1958 by the French Community. Only Guinea refused by referendum to take part to the new colonial organisation. However, the French Community dissolved itself in the midst of the Algerian War; almost all of the other African colonies were granted independence in 1960, following local referendums. Some few colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the status of overseas départements (territories). Critics of neocolonialism claimed that the Françafrique had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de Gaulle was granting independence on one hand, he was creating new ties with the help of Jacques Foccart, his counsellor for African matters. Foccart supported in particular the Nigerian Civil War during the late 1960s.

"It's always reassuring to find you've made the right enemies." -- William J. Donovan

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Originally Posted by Jack Hays

Now you're getting somewhere but you don't know it. Those who invoke alleged neocon links do so because they perceive a policy outcome similarity, not because they grasp the ideological foundation. And more often than not they misunderstand the policy too.

It isn't "links" (your "genetics & geography) or "outcomes", IT IS IDEOLOGY.

Some day, it might get through.

Originally Posted by trouble13

If you wanna know why Trumpsters are ignoring you its for the same reason you ignored the KKKs complaints about Obama.

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

No, it's not. First off, it's not an ideology. Second, the brief neoconservative moment in 1930s Germany was totally different from the one that began to develop in the mid to late 1960s, as are claims of a neoconservative view in Iran.

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Whatever may have been the rhetoric, DeGaulle oversaw the almost complete dismantlement of the French Empire.

FFS, even your cut and paste without footnote backs up the the point that they did not give up the colonies easily.

"However, control was gradually reestablished by Charles de Gaulle. The French Union, included in the 1946 Constitution of 1946, replaced the former colonial Empire.........Some few colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the status of overseas départements (territories). Critics of neocolonialism claimed that the Françafrique had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de Gaulle was granting independence on one hand, he was creating new ties with the help of Jacques Foccart, his counsellor for African matters. "

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Originally Posted by Fiddytree

No, it's not. First off, it's not an ideology. Second, the brief neoconservative moment in 1930s Germany was totally different from the one that began to develop in the mid to late 1960s, as are claims of a neoconservative view in Iran.

LOL...neoconservativism is not a political ideology!

You heard it here first folks.

Originally Posted by trouble13

If you wanna know why Trumpsters are ignoring you its for the same reason you ignored the KKKs complaints about Obama.

Re: Obama sends former officials to Thatcher funeral

Originally Posted by Gimmesometruth

LOL...neoconservativism is not a political ideology!

You heard it here first folks.

Yes, you did. I've spent the last decade reading and writing up on it, and still am. One of the first lessons you get out of it is how fragile of a concept it actually is. That is, once you smash through the junk written about it.

Perhaps you would like to enlighten me on where you got the notion it was this really solid construct of an ideology?